SPORTS AND GAME, GOSSIPS AND TRANSFERS (Wednesday)

TRANSFER WINDOW

Blackpool have put a £12m price tag on their want-away captain Charlie Adam, while Seasiders boss Ian Holloway is eyeing Derby midfielder Paul Green as a possible replacement.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Southampton insist they will not sell Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain cheaply. Arsenal are interested in signing the 17-year-old striker, whom the Saints value at about £10m.
Full story: Daily Star

Blackburn are looking to sign striker Ruben Rochina from Barcelona for £1m and are also hoping to land the signature of forward Ronieli dos Santos from Brazilian club Sao Paolo.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Stoke have turned down a bid from Birmingham to sign Turkey international Tuncay, while Newcastle have rejected the Blues' bid for striker Shola Ameobi.
Full story: Daily Mail

Arsenal are lining up a £12m offer for Paris St Germain's central defender Mamadou Sakho.
Full story: Metro

OTHER GOSSIP

West Ham owners David Sullivan and David Gold will not be at St Andrew's for their club's Carling Cup semi-final at Birmingham on Wednesday because they fear they might jinx the result.
Full story: Daily Mail

AND FINALLY

England manager Fabio Capello says he had no problems with women officiating at games when he was a player.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Capello does, however, say that Manchester City keeper Joe Hart has to cut mistakes out of his game if he is to remain his country's first choice keeper.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Amazing Comeback

Manchester United pulled off another one of their astonishing comebacks to keep their Premier League unbeaten record intact. Blackpool had taken a 2-0 lead, but Manchester United fought back to win 3-2, with Dimitar Berbatov scoring his second goal in the 87th minute of a controversial match.

Gunners Ease Into Final

Arsenal suffered a shock loss to Ipswich in the first-leg of their Carling Cup tie, but the clear favourites for the trophy bounced back with a straight-forward 3-0 triumph at the Emirates. Bendtner, Koscielny, and Fabregas were on the scoresheet as the Gunners eased into the final...

 

Real Madrid sign Emmanuel Adebayor on loan

Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor has joined Real Madrid on loan until the end of the season.

The ex-Togo international is expected to travel to Spain on Wednesday for a medical at the Spanish club.

Madrid have an option to buy the 26-year-old at the end of his loan spell in the summer.

Adebayor joined Manchester City from Arsenal in a £25m deal in 2009 and has scored 19 goals in 36 league and cup starts for the club.

He becomes City's second high-profile striker to leave in six months following Robinho's move to AC Milan and will provide Real manager Jose Mourinho with cover for Gonzalo Higuain, who is out with a back injury.

Chelsea fail in £52m bid for Atletico's Aguero & Godin

Chelsea have had a £52m bid for Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero and defender Diego Godin rejected.

Atletico have also recently rejected a £39m bid for Aguero from Real Madrid.

"Atletico have said no to the two offers because they believe in these two players," said majority shareholder Miguel Angel Gil. Argentina international Aguero, 22, has scored seven league goals this season, while Uruguay international Godin, 24, has won 43 caps.

"We never comment on transfer speculation, no matter how wild it is," said a Chelsea spokesman.

Aguero, whose father-in-law is Argentina legend Diego Maradona, joined the Spanish side from Independiente for a club record fee of £20m in 2006, while Godin joined the Madrid club from Villarreal in August 2010. As well as failing in their joint bid for Aguero and Godin, Chelsea are thought to have been unsuccessful with a £17m bid for Benfica defender David Luiz in December.

However Chelsea remain hopeful of securing a deal for the 23-year-old Brazil international.

Meanwhile, Atletico have responded to speculation about the future of their coach Quique Sanchez Flores following a run of bad results.

The Europa League holders have been knocked out of this season's competition as well as the Spanish Cup, while on Sunday they lost 1-0 at struggling Sporting Gijon on Sunday to slip 10 points off the Champions League qualification slots.

But Gil told the Atletico website: "Sanchez Flores will be coach until the end of the season. "At the end of the campaign we will talk."

Babel Deal Complete

Liverpool attacker Ryan Babel has sealed his transfer to Hoffenheim, according to the German club. Babel is believed to have passed his medical in Germany and to have signed a two-and-a-half-year deal, with a reported €7 million exchanging hands between the clubs.

MvB Signs For Milan

Italian table toppers Milan have completed the transfer of holding midfielder Mark van Bommel from Bayern Munich for an undisclosed fee. Bayern have confirmed the transfer on their official website. The Dutch international